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Michael Jackson · S5 E3
Bad
Following Thriller — an impossible task, almost perfectly executed
1987, Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles. Michael Jackson has spent two years recording over sixty songs, and now he has to pick the ten that will prove Thriller was not a fluke.
Bad, Michael Jackson (1987). Directed by Martin Scorsese, shot in the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Brooklyn with a young Wesley Snipes in his first major screen role. Michael plays a private school kid who returns to his old neighborhood and has to prove himself. The budget: $2.2 million, the most expensive music video ever made at that point.
Bad, Michael Jackson (1987)
Originally written as a duet with Prince, who declined the invitation. Michael kept the song and leaned into the aggression, building the beat around a Synclavier-driven pulse that was sharper and meaner than anything on Thriller. The finger snaps, the breathy ad-libs, the staccato delivery: this was Michael proving he could be hard without losing his pop instincts. It became the second of five consecutive number-one singles from the album.
Sources
Bad 25 documentary, Spike Lee, 2012
Billboard Hot 100 chart history, 1987-1988
The Impossible Follow-Up
Thriller sold 66 million copies. The music industry expected Michael to match that, and so did he. He spent over two years at Westlake Recording Studios with Quincy Jones, writing and discarding material at a punishing pace. The process was more intense, more obsessive, and far more isolating than anything they had done before.
Sources
Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, J. Randy Taraborrelli, 2009
Westlake Recording Studios, West Hollywood
The studio where Michael spent two years crafting Bad, often working sixteen-hour days and sleeping on the couch between sessions.
Bad by the Numbers
The Verdict
Bad debuted at number one in 25 countries and the five consecutive chart-toppers rewrote the record books. Critics were impressed but measured: it was brilliant, they agreed, but it was not Thriller. That comparison haunted every review, every sales report, every conversation. Michael sold 35 million copies of Bad and still considered it a disappointment.
Sources
Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, Randall Sullivan, 2012
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Prince turn down the 'Bad' duet?
2 Bad, Michael Jackson (1995)
From HIStory, a track that shares a name and an attitude with the album that made Michael a solo superstar. Featuring a guest verse from Shaquille O'Neal, the production by Dallas Austin is built on aggressive New Jack Swing drums and distorted guitar stabs. Where "Bad" in 1987 was playful confidence, "2 Bad" in 1995 is genuine menace, the sound of a man with real enemies.
2 Bad, Michael Jackson (1995)
The lyrics are a direct challenge to anyone who has wronged Michael, delivered with a swagger that borders on confrontational. Shaq's verse adds an unexpected dimension, his deep voice contrasting with Michael's higher register. The song never became a single, but it captures the combative energy of the HIStory era better than almost anything on the album.
How many consecutive number-one singles did the Bad album produce?
The Bad album proves Michael can follow the impossible. But one track buried on side two contains a move that defies the laws of physics, and the short film he builds around it will become its own kind of legend.
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